Monday, August 13, 2012

O'Brien hopes to make impact

They play the same position, came from the same conference and took advantage of the same rule.

Ultimately, they both landed in the same program, for similar reasons.

The comparisons between Russell Wilson and Danny O’Brien should end there, but they won’t, of course.

Since O’Brien made the decision to transfer from Maryland and follow the path Wilson forged a year ago to the University of Wisconsin — each getting a chance to play right away, having earned a degree — much of the focus has been on the similarities between their situations.

Now that O’Brien has arrived on campus, spent two months getting to know his teammates and has gone through the first week of preseason camp, it might be appropriate to point out the differences.

One of Wilson’s strongest supporters, from Day One, was UW athletic director Barry Alvarez, who quickly recognized the special talent that arrived from North Carolina State.

So, after O’Brien signed with UW in the spring, Alvarez was asked to make a comparison between the two.